Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

OVERVIEWis open to question. Many national programmes sufferfrom a combination of underinvestment, poor qualityand weak links to employment markets. Governmentsin the Middle East have invested heavily in vocationaleducation with little to show for it in the way of jobs.In sub-Saharan Africa, vocational education largelybypasses the informal sector (where most marginalizedyoung people work), and is shunned by parents andpupils. Vocational programmes in India reach only about3% of rural youth and there is little evidence that theyenhance employment prospects. The image of technicaland vocational provision as a form of second-classeducation that provides limited benefits for employmentremains largely intact.Changing that image will require far-reaching reforms.Successful vocational education systems typically providea strong link between the world of school and the worldof work, requiring active engagement by the privatesector. One of the features of Brazil’s model, for example,is that the country’s employers’ federation is a majorprovider, with high-quality training geared towardsareas characterized by labour market shortages. Thecurriculum and approaches to teaching also matter.Too often, vocational education focuses on narrowtechnical abilities rather than broader, more flexible‘learning to learn’ skills. Several countries – includingAustralia and the Republic of Korea – are addressing thisproblem and the associated poor reputation of traditionalprogrammes, by allowing for greater fluidity betweenvocational training and academic education.Adult literacyLiteracy is a vital asset and key component of skillsdevelopment. Yet adult literacy remains one of themost neglected of the Education for All goals. There arecurrently some 759 million illiterate youths and adultsin the world. Reflecting the legacy of gender disparitiesin education, two-thirds of this number are women.While gender gaps are narrowing, they remain very large.Except in East Asia – principally China – progresstowards the target of halving illiteracy has been painfullyslow. On current trends, the world will be less thanhalfway towards this goal by 2015. India alone will havea shortfall of some 81 million literate people.There have been some encouraging developments inrecent years. Several countries with large numbers ofilliterate adults are increasing investment in nationalliteracy programmes. The Literate Brazil Programme,which started in 2003, is an example: it has reached8 million learners. India is reconfiguring and expandingits national literacy programme to focus more strongly onwomen, low-caste groups and minorities. Burkina Faso’snational education strategyhas scaled up investmentin literacy from 1% to 7%of the education budget.Governments and donorsneed to learn from emergingmodels of good practice andact with greater resolve inprioritizing literacy withinwider education strategies.Education qualityThe ultimate measure of anyeducation system is not howmany children are in school,but what – and how well –they learn. There is growingevidence that the world is moving more quickly to getchildren into school than to improve the quality of theeducation offered.Learning achievement deficits are evident at manylevels. International assessment exercises pointconsistently towards severe global disparities. The2007 Trends in International Mathematics and ScienceStudy (TIMSS) found that average students in severaldeveloping countries, including Ghana, Indonesia andMorocco, performed below the poorest-performingstudents in countries such as Japan and the Republicof Korea. Inequalities within countries, linked tohousehold disadvantage and the learning environment,are also marked. The problem is not just one ofrelative achievement. Absolute levels of learning aredesperately low in many countries. Evidence fromSouth and West Asia and from sub-Saharan Africasuggests that many children are failing to master basicliteracy and numeracy skills, even when they completea full cycle of primary education.Low learning achievement stems from many factors.Schools in many developing countries are in a poorstate and teachers are in short supply. By 2015, thepoorest countries need to recruit some 1.9 millionadditional primary school teachers, including 1.2 millionin sub-Saharan Africa, to create a good learningenvironment for all children. More equitable teacherdeployment is also vital: all too often, the poorestregions and most disadvantaged schools have thefewest and least-qualified teachers. Several countries,including Brazil and Mexico, have introducedprogrammes targeting schools serving disadvantagedcommunities. Governments can also raise standardsby spotting problems early, using constant monitoringand early-grade reading assessments.© REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra7